“Agnethe Christensen, originally from Sweden, studied at the Royal Danish Conservatory and specialized in renaissance and medieval singing with Andrea von Ramm in Basel and furthermore in Rome and Paris. Well known for her unconventional interpretations of modern and classical works, folk and early vocal music. Agnethe has worked with modern composers Luca Lombardi, Palle Mikkelborg, Wolfgang Rihm, Luciano Berio and John Cage, with opera, folk and film music.

Agnethe's expertise is within the field of early music and historically informed folk music and together with ULV where she performs medieval Nordic ballads and sacred music with singer Lena Susanne Norin and fiddle player Elizabeth Gaver, she presents Swedish traditional music in a historic perspective.

Home in Copenhagen she works together with the the medieval ensemble Alba and together with the Welsh harper Helen Davies with traditional music from Shetland, Orkney and the Hebridees searching the old norse influence and reconstructing the old poetry of the past. In the project Music of the Mysteries she collaborates with musicians from both the classical and world music scene.”

"... During the Early Music Days in Sopron (Hungary, 1990) I attended classes of baroque singing held by Guy de Mey. I became completely passionate in baroque music, but there was no opportunity in Moscow to study thoroughly baroque singing. As I could not continue my education in European institutes, specialized in early music, I tried to learn as much as possible by listening records of the famous baroque performers, by talking and collaborating with a very few number of Moscow baroque instrumentalists with European education (and with prof. Tatiana Zenaishvili particularly), and by my own intuition.

In March 2000 I studied the Telemann vocal style with prof. Barbara Schlick and prof. Hermann Max at the 3rd Telemann Academy (Magdeburg). In June 2001 I was an active participant of the vocal courses held at the Moscow Conservatoire by prof. Sabine Kaipainen.

Between 1991 and 1995 I was soloist of the early music ensemble "Pratum Musicum". Since then I collaborate with such musicians as Tatiana Zenaishvili (harpsichord, organ), Tatiana Andrianova (organ), Antonio Gramschi (recorders), Svetlana Sheveleva (recorders), Vadim Krasnov (lute), with the Chamber Orchestra of the Moscow State University. Recently two new early music ensembles were founded by me and my musical friends: "Opella Lauta" and "La Squadriglia".

My repertoire includes a range of late renaissance and baroque songs and cantatas, some of them performed for the first time in Russia: "Leçons de Ténèbres" by François Couperin, Alessandro Scarlatti's Stabat Mater, solo cantatas by Nicolas Bernier, sacred music of Johann Rosenmüller among them could be mentioned. Apart from early music I like very much to sing Mozart, Schubert, Rachmaninov, of late I sing also Russian romances from the manuscript of the 19th c. (1833) with Vladimir Markushevitch (Russian guitar). " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"I Cantori Gregoriani are a male voice group which exclusively dedicates itself to the study and the spread of Gregorian chant. Consisting entirely of specialists, the ensemble bases its own performances on research into semiology, that is the study of antique manuscripts dating from the Xth –X1th centuries. The performances of the group are aimed at transmitting, through the actual instruments of the semiology, the expressive force of Gregorian chant, i.e. the correct musical representation of the ancient exegetic tradition of the sacred texts. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“Since its debut in 1998, ODHECATON has won many prestigious prizes for its recordings, reflecting critical recognition of the group's having pioneered a new interpretative approach to the performance of polyphonic music: a fluid and expressive reading based on textual declamation. The name of the group is taken from the Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, the first printed book of polyphony published in 1501 by Ottaviano Petrucci in Venice. Their core repertoire encompasses the work of Italian, French, Flemish and Spanish composers of the 15th century. Directed by Paolo Da Col, Odhecaton brings together some of the best Italian male voices specialized in the performance of Renaissance and baroque music. The ensemble has made recordings dedicated to the music of Gombert, Isaac, Josquin, Peñalosa and Compère, and has helped rediscover the repertoire of 17th-century Spanish and Portuguese composers active in the Canary Islands. These programmes have seen Odhecaton being invited to appear in the leading European festivals, and won them important recognition in the world of recording: "Diapason d'or de l'année", "5 diapasons", "Choc" (Le Monde de la Musique), "Disco del mese" (Amadeus and CD Classics), and "CD of the Year" (Goldberg). Beyond its central repertoire, Odhecaton has also presented a semi-staged production of Orazio Vecchi's Amfiparnaso (directed by Enrico Bonavera, with scenery by Lele Luzzati), and a production of sacred music by Gesualdo da Venosa. Since 2008, Odhecaton has paid particular attention to the music of Palestrina. The group also works occasionally with instrumentalists specialized in their repertoire, including Bruce Dickey and Concerto Palatino, Gabriele Cassone, Liuwe Tamminga, Paolo Pandolfo, Jakob Lindberg and La Reverdie.“

“The Stanford Early Music Singers specialize in the performance of choral literature from the Medieval and Renaissance eras. EMS typically numbers 25–30 members, with smaller groups occasionally drawn from the ensemble. EMS’s repertoire for the year includes a broad range of literature from England and the Continent presented in the glorious acoustic of Memorial Church.

To audition, contact Bill Mahrt (mahrt-AT-stanford.edu)

Early Music Singers meets Tuesdays: 7:30–9:30 p.m.

Community members are welcome to join at no charge, upon a successful audition.”

"The Capella Dvcale Venetia, musicians specializing in Renaissance music, conceived and directed by Livio Picotti, operating since 1992 in the city of Venice. ... " View website for more information. (ed.)

"Concerto delle Donne refers to the three celebrated singing ladies of the court of Duke Alfonso of Ferrara in the 1580s. The duke was such an enthusiast of the female voice that he gathered together a concerto delle donne comprising the finest sopranos of the day, famed throughout Italy for the beauty of their voices and their ability to execute the most elaborate ornamentation. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Harmonia Vocal Quartet performs a wide range of music, with a repertoire that ranges from Gregorian chant and early polyphony to Baroque and classical works, madrigals, and contemporary sacred and liturgical music of merit. We are perhaps best known for our performance of Renaissance works by Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria, Tallis, and Byrd.

Formed in 2002, HVQ is based in Knoxville, Tenn., and has sung in Germany, Austria, New York, North Carolina, and throughout East Tennessee. Current members are soprano Maria Rist, mezzo-soprano Mary C. Weaver, tenor Keith Murray, and (depending on their availability) baritones Kenneth Parsons and David Ensley.

The quartet is available for weddings, concerts, special occasions, and religious services in Tennessee and surrounding states. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Founded in the spring of 2005, Prometheus is a chamber ensemble dedicated to giving vibrant, historical performances of Baroque music. Unique because its members are equally entrenched in the scholarly and performance worlds, the group breathes life into Baroque music with its bold, sensitive interpretations of the repertoire.

The ensemble's concerts feature Baroque gesture and poetry, transforming them into unique visual and literary spectacles. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“Ferran Savall was born in Basel in 1979, the son of Montserrat Figueras and Jordi Savall. From earliest childhood his everyday life at home was permeated by the atmosphere of musical study, rehearsals and concerts with members of his family. He started his musical training at the age of seven.

At the age of 15 he began to study guitar at the Escola Luthier under Xavier Coll. At the same time, he studied performance using early instruments and the practice of bass continuo in private classes with Rolf Lislevand, under whom he continues to study to the present day. Since 2000 he has worked on modern song, continuing his studies under Dolors Aldea and Petter Johansen.

Ferran Savall is a self-taught musician in search of a natural voice. His essential quality is a highly spontaneous approach to singing, his music springing from the individual moment and its intrinsic emotion, from his personality and the resources at his disposal at any particular moment.

He takes his inspiration from a variety of musical styles such as soul, black music and world music, especially from the Eastern Mediterranean and India, as well as early and contemporary music. …”

"Charites is a trio committed to the works of early women composers and poets, bringing their music to life through bold, historically-informed performances and period gesture. The members of Charites are equally entrenched in scholarship and performance and seek to blur the lines between these two arenas. Founded in 2006, Charites has performed throughout the New York area, at venues like the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St. Bartholemew's Church, Columbia University, and the CUNY Graduate Center. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“ The Ensemble was founded in the Galilee region of Israel by the bass and harpsichordist Elam Rotem. It is currently based in Switzerland, where all its members undertook further study at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The ensemble has benefited both individually and collectively from the expertise of leading musicians, amongst them Evelyn Tubb, Anthony Rooley, Gerd Türk and Dominique Vellard. …”

"American countertenor Jay Carter is quickly gaining recognition as one of the nation’s finest, lauded for his luminous tone and stylish interpretations especially in the music of Bach, Bernstein, Handel, Purcell and Vivaldi. Equally at home in the modern recital repertoire, he has gained acclaim for programs of modern classics typically outside the standard countertenor repertory by composers such as Quilter, Brahms, Britten, and Hahn. Carter is a featured soloist on recordings of Bach’s Magnificat in D, Mendelssohn’s Magnificat, and Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, all of which will be released commercially in late 2008. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Inspired by the renowned chapel choirs of the Renaissance, Pomerium revives the golden age of a cappella singing. The ensemble, featuring some of the finest singers in the country and acclaimed for its luminous sound, performs frequently in New York—at such venues as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Frick Collection, and Music Before 1800—as well as across the USA and abroad. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“Amor Artis is a distinctive chamber chorus and orchestra, featuring dynamically balanced programs of well-known favorites together with important works rarely heard. The ensemble has achieved considerable rcognition internationally through its many concerts and extensive discography, encompassing more than fifty recordings. One of the first and foremost presenters in New York of lesser-known Baroque masterpieces, Amor Artis has distinguished itself through authentic versions in style and setting, paving the way for performances of these works given in the U.S. today.“

"EMILY VAN EVERA has earned an international reputation for stylishly expressive singing in a variety of repertoires. Her many recordings include ground-breaking and award-winning performances of works by Monteverdi, Purcell, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel with the Taverner Players, music of Renaissance Italy, England and Spain with the Musicians of Swanne Alley, Circa 1500 and Musica Secreta, music by Rossi and Cavalli with Tragicomedia and Concerto Palatino and by Machaut and Hildegard of Bingen with Gothic Voices. She sang the role of Dido for the BBC’s acclaimed commemorative recording of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Taverner Players, re-issued by Sony), features on the Taverner Consort’s The Promise of Ages (“which Sony might safely have named ‘Quite Simply the Best Christmas Album Ever’” – BBC Music Magazine), and most recently released My Lady Rich, a portrait of Elizabethan gentlewoman Penelope Rich in music by Dowland, Byrd, Coprario and Tessier (see Reviews).

Stage and television appearances include productions of operatic works by Monteverdi, Lully, Charpentier and Handel, and a dramatised solo concert of early Tudor song for BBC2. Emily has broadcast from the BBC Proms and throughout Europe and North America in music ranging from folk ballads and trumpet arias to Haydn masses and songs by Charles Ives and Vaughan Williams. Born in northern Minnesota, she lives in Oxfordshire and travels in both continents for concerts. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"It was formed in 1997 and it is composed of variable singers with a prevalence of female voices which work trying to reach a vocal purity as near as possible to the interpretative standards of the medieval and Renaissance music. The study of the pure vocalism is characterized by the tonic peculiarity and consistency of the voices which transmit an accurate transparency and a sound useful to bring the essence of the prayer and the word of the sacred texts which are magnified by the ancient melodies to life again. The research is about musics from the codexes of Carolingian age, the medieval laud books and the ancient books of the medieval age, liturgical and not, with a particular reference to the Umbria and Toscana area. To strengthen the work of research and study the Association organizes seminars of Gregorian chant and ancient music with experts in this sector like Nino Albarosa, Giovanni Conti and Tito Molisani. ... " Visit webstie for more information. (ed.)

"The Brabant Ensemble was founded in 1998 to explore the neglected repertory of sacred music in the period 1520-1560.

The group takes its name from the Duchy of Brabant, an area of the Low Countries that now forms part of the southern Netherlands and northern Belgium. Many of the greatest composers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries emanated from Brabant and its neighbouring areas, controlled at that time by the Dukes of Burgundy; it is the music of such composers as Nicolas Gombert, Orlande de Lassus and Josquin Desprez that forms the core of the group's repertoire." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“Singer/whistler/performer Emily Eagen is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, an alum of Macalester College and The University of Madison-Wisconsin, and a former Fulbright scholar to the Hague, the Netherlands. Emily currently lives and works in New York City. She is an active performer of early music, contemporary music, and traditional American music, as well as an avid experimenter in musical genres of all kinds.

Emily is a member of The M6, an ensemble dedicated to exploring and performing the works of composer Meredith Monk. She currently performs with the Hesperus Ensemble, singing Sephardic and renaissance music for a live-film performance of the 1920s horror film The Golem. Emily has performed regularly as a soloist with the mediterranean medieval ensemble Sendebar, and was the 2008 recipient of the Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship for medieval music from Early Music America. She can be heard singing harmony on the recently released debut album by singer-songwriter Guillaume Goussault, and sings, whistles, and plays the ukulele with the roots/old-time/early blues band The Whistlin’ Wolves.

A two-time International Whistling Champion, Emily has been known to whistle everything from opera to jazz, and regularly leads workshops in group and solo whistling. In a 2007 Carnegie Hall workshop led by soprano Dawn Upshaw and composer Osvaldo Golijov, Emily premiered The Wane of More, a piece for voice, whistling, and chamber ensemble by composer Gyan Riley. Her whistling has been featured on numerous recordings, was used as live accompaniment to an installation by artist Tony Luensman at the Cincinnati Art Museum for Frank Duveneck’s painting “The Whistling Boy”, and was recently the whistling “voice” of e-bay.

Emily teaches private and group voice lessons in classical, early, contemporary, and traditional American folk genres. She teaches in and around New York City, as well as at various summer festivals including The Amherst Early Music Festival (CT) and The Augusta Heritage Center (WV). She teaches a monthly bluegrass/old-time/gospel harmony class at the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music in Brooklyn with singer Don Friedman, and is a teaching artist in the New York City public schools through Carnegie Hall.“

“Collegium Vocale Gent was founded in 1970 on the initiative of Philippe Herreweghe. It was one of the first ensembles to use the then-new ideas about baroque practice in vocal music performances. Musicians such as Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman and Nikolaus Harnoncourt immediately took an interest in the Flemish ensemble’s fresh, new approach, which led to intensive collaboration. In the mid-1980s the ensemble acquired international fame and was invited to all the major concert halls and music festivals of Europe, Israel, the United States, Russian, South America, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. ..“

“Michael Procter is recognised throughout Europe as a leading facilitator in the field of Renaissance sacred polyphony. His courses and workshops have for over 30 years introduced hundreds of singers from many countries not only to the repertoire but also to the stylistic and technical considerations which are inseparable from its responsible performance. These considerations include not only such aspects as period and national pronunciations of the Latin, but also basic essentials such as tempo and, perhaps most significantly, performing pitch. Michael Procter has played a significant role in the dissemination of editions and performances which respect the original clef codes and their associated transpositions - the area most commonly identifed as ‘chiavette’. For example, many of the best-known works of the Renaissance are written in ‘high clefs’ which require transposition down of, usually, a 4th: Byrd’s Mass for 4 voices, Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli are among the best-known examples of this very large field. ..“

“The ensemble Encantar was founded end 2006 by four young female singers.

They set themselves a target to study the rich polyfonic repertoire of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries in order to present it in a contemporary way to the public. The ensemble investigates the possibility to perform with female voices this repertoire that was written originally for men’s voices.

Encantar mainly focusses on religious repertoire of Flemish, Spanish and Italian composers, next to anonymous works and French and English compositions of the same period. Encantar made a special program for ‘Jeugd & Muziek‘ entitled “Mix Méditerrané“ featuring some great works of southern polyphonists such as Cristobal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Bernardo Pisano, Costanzo Festa and Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina. Encantar cooperated for this production with Hendrik De Smedt (actor) under direction of Maja Jantar.

Recently, Encantar has been on tour with “La déclinaison de la femme“ a program featuring Marguerite of Austria (1480-1530).

In 2009, Encantar won the Klara Tandemtrofee 2009, together with the Audience Prize and the Radio Klara Prize.

Encantar followed masterclasses with Erik Van Nevel, Jean Tubéry and Marcel Pérès. Every year, the ensemble travels to Arezzo (Italy) to be coached by Jill Feldman and Kees Boeke.

Two recordings have been made so far, one together with the recorder consort Flanders Recorder Quartet (Aeolus) (release December 2010) and one with two lutes and renaissance harp for the label Phaedra (release May 2011).

In July 2011, Encantar won the York Early Music Festival Friends ‘ Prize.“

"Mark Crayton performs on concert stages and in opera houses throughout the United States and Europe, and his extensive repertoire includes a wide variety of works. Mark Crayton created the role of the First Minstrel in The Holland Festival’s production of Peter Onnes’ opera/theatre piece Pantagruel et Gargantua. This role was specifically written for Mark Crayton. In 2003, Mark Crayton was invited by the composer Philip Glass and the Tony Award director Mary Zimmerman to sing in the world premiere performances of Glass’ opera Galileo Galilei in Chicago, New York City and London. Soon thereafter, Mr Crayton was chosen by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb to sing the role of Louis Perch in their new musical, The Visit, starring Chita Rivera, at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre; discussions are now under way for a possible New York production as well as a production in Washington, DC. The 2006-07 season began for Mark Crayton with a New York City appearance on The Phoenix Concert Series featuring new music for two countertenors and piano, with colleagues Daniel Gundlach and James Janssen. Subsequently, Mr Crayton was heard in concert with fortepianist James Janssen for Ars Musica Chicago at the DePaul University Art Museum. Later in the season, Mr Crayton made his debut with the Seattle Opera as Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare - the same opera in which Mark Crayton made his San Diego Opera debut in 2006. Highlights of this season’s appearances include a return to the Phillips Collection in a recital of Italian secular cantatas, a return to Raleigh/Durham to sing G F Handel’s Messiah at the Duke Chapel, a recital/masterclass at Butler University, Messiah with the Chicago Chorale, Carmina Burana with the Fargo-Morehead Symphony, Chichester Psalms with the Sheboygan Symphony, as well as masterclasses in London. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"John Potter's musical collaborators include the composer Ambrose Field, video artist Michael Lynch and the lutenist Ariel Abramovich, as well as The Dowland Project, Red Byrd and the Gavin Bryars Ensemble. He is a member of the German ensemble The Sound & The Fury, and with fellow tenor Christopher O’Gorman is a part of the Hyperion/University of Southampton Conductus Project. A writer and scholar as well as a singer, he has published four books on singing and is a former British Library Edison Fellow. He is Reader Emeritus in Music at the University of York, having left the university in 2010 to focus on his portfolio of freelance activities.

John's eclectic performing experience has ranged from first performances of works by Berio, Stockhausen, James Dillon and Michael Finnissy to backing vocals for Manfred Mann, Mike Oldfield and The Who (among others). Red Byrd, the group he founded with bass Richard Wistreich, has recorded music as diverse as Monteverdi (both straight and with electric guitars), Leonin (3 albums for Hyperion) and the Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones (for Factory Records). He was a major contributor to the Hilliard Ensemble’s Officium project (for which he has five gold discs), and subsequently developed many of the ideas in The Dowland Project’s four albums for ECM; he also produced the first three ECM albums by the Scandinavian trio mediaeval.

Current projects include multimedia presentations of music by Ambrose Field (Being Dufay and its successor, both with films by Michael Lynch) and the Conductus Project (three albums for Hyperion with associated live performances also with films by Michael Lynch). His lute song repertoire ranges from Thomas Ford to Benedetto Ferrari and beyond, and includes programmes of Dowland and Campion. He also works with vihuela on the 15th/16th century ‘intabulation’ repertory, and with chitarrone on later music by Blow, Purcell and others."

"Hailed as "a golden soprano" by the New York Times, Jolle Greenleaf has established herself as a leading specialist in repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. She completed her Master’s degree at the Mannes College of Music, and soon after received the coveted Beebe Fellowship to study at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands. Upon returning to New York, Ms. Greenleaf has built a career performing with illustrious period instrument conductors such as Martin Gester, Bernard LaBadie, Ton Koopman, Andrew Parrott, John Scott, and Jeannette Sorrell. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)